


Guardfeathers

by megsblackfire



Series: Things That Go Bump in the Night [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ghosts, Hauntings, M/M, mentioned Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada, my lover died a couple hundred years ago and came back while I was stuck as a ghost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-16 07:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8094223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megsblackfire/pseuds/megsblackfire
Summary: Jack Morrison and Jesse McCree decide to spend a week of their summer holidays hiking into a supposed haunted forest in upper Texas for the fun of it. Jesse's been up here hundreds of times and has never seen or heard anything particularly ghostly.There's a first time for everything.University-esque AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse. I have fallen down the hole into Reaper76 hell and am unwilling to climb back out. Leave me down here with the sad dads.
> 
> For w4anderingstar, you horrible, wonderful muse.

“And we’re rolling!” Jack laughed as he turned the camcorder towards Jesse and waved. “Welcome to day one of our hike into the haunted woods up in the ass-end of Texas. Jesse, tell us how these woods are supposedly haunted?”

“Why’d I get stuck doing that?” Jesse demanded around his cigarette.

He was grinning around the white stick of lung-cancer in his mouth, taking any bite out of his comment. Haunted places were always a draw for tourists and Jack, being the bored and ever curious college student that he was, wanted to see something that his roommate and best friend knew intimately. They were looking for some elusive ghost that was supposed to haunt the area. Jesse knew the most about the ghost only because he had cousins that lived in the area and they liked to try to scare him with the stories.

“Come on! For science!” Jack laughed.

“There ain’t nothing scientific about a ghost-story,” Jesse grumbled as he pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and shot a stream of smoke towards the sky. “But fine, because I can’t stand those damn-puppy eyes of yours. So, back when the US decided to start expanding west into Mexican territory like the fuckers they were, there was a little settlement just at the bottom of the hill there. Supposedly, anyways; never explored the area myself because it’s really dangerous with sinkholes and whatnot. Anyways, so these people got like a five minute warning before the US army comes barrelling down on them and just whole-sale slaughters them. No chance to fight or run, just these guys with guns come ridin’ up and put a bullet through everyone’s head. ‘Cept, two people supposedly got away and made it to the forest before they were killed. Plan was to hole up until it was safe, but they didn’t know some bastard had slipped off to follow them. So now you can hear this really sad sobbing noise when the wind blows and someone shouting ‘ _cariño_ ’.”

Jesse waxed dramatic and drew out the word, putting a longing wail to the end of it. He grinned, tapped the ashes off of his cigarette, and stuck it back in his mouth.

“Or, so the stories go; been up here plenty of times and I’ve never heard a damn thing,” he added as he put his hat back on his head. “Still, nice hike at the very least. Got three days’ worth of hiking with campsites set up where we can make a fire without worrying about setting the damn forest on fire. This early in the season, not too many other people’ll be up here so we can do as we please. Within reason, o’ course.”

“I would say that you don’t have a romantic bone in your body,” Jack laughed, “but I know that Hanzo thinks otherwise”.

“Aw, shucks, Jack, don’t go ratting me out to the entire world,” Jesse teased. “Hanzo’s a sensitive soul; he’d be devastated to learn that he isn’t as secretive as he thought he was.”

“I think it’s cute,” Jack said as he hoisted his pack up onto his back and buckled himself in and attached the camcorder to the rig he had in the middle of his chest. “Let’s get going while the sun’s still up.”

“Sun’s up ‘til about ten this time of year,” Jesse said as he stood up and swung his pack over his shoulders. “We have plenty of time to hike up and make camp.”

“Still,” Jack laughed as Jesse took point. “We’d have more time if someone hadn’t dragged his feet this morning.”

“You can’t rush beauty,” Jesse teased.

“Apparently you can because you still look like a horse’s ass,” Jack laughed.

Jesse and Jack threw identical birds at each other as they headed down the trail. The two college students headed up the trail, laughing and talking about the scenery and how glad they were that they didn’t have classes over the summer.

Jesse was studying to become a lawyer and Jack was trying to get through medical school with his eyes still in his heads. Jesse wanted to know exactly what he had to do to put his abusive father behind bars while protecting any other innocent kid from suffering a similar upbringing that he did. Jack wanted to help people and the best way he figured he could was to help keep them healthy and in the best shape possible.

The trees swayed around them in the breeze, keeping them cool as the sun climbed higher and higher overhead. They stopped for lunch, laughing as Jesse told them about the time his cousin tried to scare him by dressing up as a bear and chasing him through the forest. Turns out, Jesse was a really fast kid and a really good shot; his cousin had wound up with a goose-egg the size of a baseball in the middle of his forehead from the rock Jesse had thrown at him.

“I got in so much shit from my _Tía_ for it too,” Jesse pouted as he chewed on his sandwich. “Didn’t matter that he started it; my city-boy ass shouldn’t have been throwing stones.”

“Sounds like my mom,” Jack laughed. “Cousins could commit murder and I’d get in trouble for tracking the blood into the house.”

They laughed for a few more minutes before packing their garbage away and continuing down the trail. They made it to “basecamp” around eight and quickly went about setting up their tent, getting their food safely tied off in a tree, and starting a fire in the designated area. Supper was a hearty affair of hot dogs, fried beans, and whatever vegetable Jesse pulled out of the cooler. It was something rooty that definitely was not a potato; that was all that Jack could make of it. Dessert was enough s’mores to make them sick to their stomachs.

They went to bed as the sun went down after the made certain that the fire was good and drowned. They all shared a tent separated from one another by their sleeping bags. They were mature adults and weren’t worried about waking up in the middle of the night to find that their neighbour was dry humping them.

Jack rolled onto his back and almost immediately fell asleep. Jesse snored loudly, but Jack was so used to hearing it since they shared a dorm room that it didn’t even faze him. It would keep any curious creatures away at the very least. What wanted to tangle with a fucking bear?

They all woke in the middle of the night to a long wail. Jack bolted upright and grabbed his chest, wincing as pain shot through him. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to figure out what was going on as Jesse scrambled into a sitting position. Jesse had drool rolling down his face into the stubble of his beard and his eyes were taking forever to focus.

“ _¡Cariño!_ ” a voice shouted.

Jack let out a silent gasp as pain shot through him again. He sat there hunched over, fingers digging into his chest as the shouting continued. His eyes fluttered rapidly and he could feel his legs twitching.

 _“Run! Don’t look back!”_ someone shouted in his head.

_He could hear footsteps pounding behind him. Someone was so close to him that he could practically feel their breath on his neck. That was good; he wasn’t outpacing the larger man._

_“Keep running! I’m right behind you, my sunlight.”_

_“Gabriel, I’m scared,” Jack sobbed as his legs burned._

_“I am too, but you have to keep running.”_

_Jack hauled himself over a fallen log, scrambling for purchase as the person on his heels shoved at his thighs to help him over. He fell hard on his front, whining in pain as he scrambled to his feet. He started running again, glancing over his shoulder to watch Gabriel drop to his feet with all the grace of a puma. His brown eyes were wide with fear, but he forced a smile to his face as he started after Jack._

_Jack turned his attention back to the game trail they were following and ran as fast as he could. There was a crack of a rifle behind him a few seconds before pain seared through his back and chest. He felt the bullet tear through him, bursting his chest wide open and splattering the ground with blood. His pendent went spirally off of him, bouncing away into the underbrush, the black owl wings smeared with blood. He was in too much pain to care._

_“Jack! NO!”_

_Jack flopped to the ground and Gabriel scooped him up, sobbing into his hair as he felt his life slipping away. He tried to lift his hand, tried to comfort his grieving husband, but it was like his limbs were made of lead. He blew a bubble of blood between his lips as he tried to say “I love you” and slumped in his husband’s arms._

_“¡CARIÑO!”_

“Jack!”

Jack gasped and tumbled backwards. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling of the tent, sucking air in between his teeth. What had that been? It was like a flashback, but he couldn’t remember ever being here before. Who was Gabriel? Why did his chest hurt so much? Why did he feel like crying over a complete stranger?

“Jack, are you alright?” Jesse demanded as he crouched over him.

“I…I think so,” he whispered. “What…happened?”

“You were hunched over clutching your chest,” Jesse said as he helped him into a sitting position again. “You kept whimpering and…it sounded like you were saying ‘ _te amo_ ’ and ‘ _lo siento_ ’ over and over again.”

“I…I don’t remember that,” he shook his head.

Why would he say that? He could understand Spanish but he sure as Hell couldn’t speak it. His accent was terrible and the words didn’t seem to want to work with his tongue.

“It was terrifying,” Jesse whispered. “That…that noise. Whatever was screaming out there seemed to be going crazy when you hunched over. There were footsteps everywhere outside, like something was looking for you.”

“You heard footsteps?” Jack demanded as he sat up straight. “Please tell me you recorded that!”

“I did,” Jesse nodded. “Keep your voice down in case they’re still out there. I’ll show you in the morning, okay?”

Jack nodded and shivered. “Let’s…let’s just try to go back to sleep, yah?” he asked softly.

“Don’t know if I can after that,” Jesse shuddered. “That’s not a sound I ever want to hear again. Fuck, I was so scared.”

“Hey, whoever it was is gone, right?” Jack smiled. “They’ve pissed off once they figured out that we aren’t giving them the reaction they want. Come on; let’s try to sleep. We still have a long way to go, right?”

“We do,” Jesse sighed before he wiggled under the cover of his sleeping bag and huddled close to Jack.

They fell asleep huddled close together. Jack tried not to think about what had happened to him; it didn’t make any sense. He kept his eyes firmly shut and ignored the pain in his chest. The wind shook the trees around the campsite and he covered his ears.

 _“¡Cariño!”_ the wind seemed to scream.


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay, stop snuggling; the cowboy has to piss!” Jesse whined as he tried to get up. “Jack, get your hip out of my pelvis! I don’t want to pee on you!”

Jack laughed as Jesse wiggled out from under his arms and bolted for the treeline. Jack stretched his limbs out, yawning widely before he untangled himself from his mess of a sleeping bag. He headed for the treeline and relieved his full bladder over a bush of pretty white flowers.

His toe nudged against something solid and he looked down. He frowned and picked up the half-covered pendant. It looked like a barn owl’s head and wings carefully carved from obsidian. It felt warm in his hand, like it had only recently dropped from someone’s body. He had no idea what compelled him to slip the pendant over his head, but he did, and it fell solidly against his chest.

He shivered at the warmth that spread through his body. He felt safe and whole, like nothing could harm him so long as he had the pendant around his neck. He touched the owl fondly, tracing his fingers over the head and wings, before he headed back to the tent. He tucked the pendent under his shirt so Jesse wouldn’t ask about it.

“So, what’s for breakfast?” he called.

“I’ll let you know when I get the food down. Someone tied the knot wrong, Jack; you suck as a boy scout,” Jesse called over his shoulder. “And…got it!”

The pack full of food lowered swiftly to the ground and Jack immediately started digging through it for breakfast. Some yogurt tubes, fresh fruit, and a pound of fried bacon later, they were both pleasantly full and ready to continue the hike. They took the tent down before Jesse replayed what happened the previous night on the camcorder.

It was unnerving to hear the sounds that were emitting from the machine. It definitely sounded like someone was screaming “ _cariño_ ”, but there were whole sentences being screamed that sounded like utter gibberish. Old Spanish maybe? The sight of himself doubled over and muttering under his breath was unsettling, more so when Jack saw the way he was clawing at his chest.

“That doesn’t sound any better in the daylight,” Jesse shuddered.

“It’s so creepy,” Jack shivered as he turned the camcorder off. “That screaming; they sounded so distraught. But, do you think its authentic or just some jackass fucking with us?”

“No idea,” Jesse rubbed his head. “I would think it was my asshole cousins, but they’re out of town.”

“Let’s pretend that it was some jackass fucking with us and continue on,” Jack smiled as he got to his feet. “Rather not have to deal with anything supernatural, thanks.”

“Not without a little bit more sunlight and a bigger gun,” Jesse agreed with a small laugh as he patted the gun on his hip.

They continued up the dirt path that wound its way through the forest. They talked loudly, hoping to keep anyone that might be following them at bay. They stopped around noon, Jack pointedly ignoring Jesse’s grin when he went to say what time it was. The view on the raised hill was beautiful, giving them a view of the forest that seemed to stretch on forever.

“God, that’s quite the view,” Jack grinned. “This would have been a good place to live once,” Jack found himself saying. “It wouldn’t have been easy, but maybe that was the appeal. Your survival was dependent on your ability to find enough for you and your family without killing the land.”

“You okay there, Jack?” Jesse asked as he punched his shoulder. “Yer sounding a little poetic.”

“Nah,” Jack laughed as he shook his head, resisting the urge to play with the owl pendent. “Just being silly. I’ve got to use the washroom again; be back in a few.”

“Downwind!” Jesse called after him.

Jack laughed as he wandered into the underbrush. He did his business and stood a few feet from the hole he had dug playing with the pendent. It sat right above the large, white birthmark just below his heart. He always thought it looked like a scar, but he had never gotten injured in a way that would make such a scar form. It looked like a bullet exit wound, if he was completely honest with himself. Wasn’t there a joke that your birthmarks show how you died?

Shot through the heart, but who was to blame?

That was terrible, Jack; you should be ashamed of yourself. He shook his head at his terrible use of that famous song lyric and started back towards his friend.

“Howdy; how’re you?” Jesse called out suddenly.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks and crouched down to remain out of sight. There was a huge man standing in the middle of the path staring at Jesse. Jesse was slowly getting to his feet, grinning widely as he looped his thumbs into his belt. Jack wasn’t fooled by the nonchalance. Jesse was unnerved by this man and Jack wasn’t about to step into sight if it wasn’t safe. He didn’t want to give the stranger a reason to attack if he felt threatened by two random white college students. Because, let’s face it, two white college students were probably more dangerous than most things in this forest, particularly if they’re male and entitled.

“ _No entiendo su pregunta,_ ” the man said, crossing his thick arms across his chest.

Jack winced at the gruffness in the man’s voice. Great, so they were dealing with someone that didn’t speak English and sounded like he was ready to attack them. Jesse, diffuse the situation quickly so they could get going and not get themselves killed. And maybe not notice how incredibly handsome the stranger was.

Because God damn was that the sexiest looking man Jack had ever seen. He’d never really found himself particular to any one look, but if he had a type, this man certainly exemplified it. Thick muscles that looked like he had spent most of his life working. A dark complexion darkened even more by the sun. Dark brown eyes that looked harder than rock but had a small promise of warmth in their depths. Full lips just begging for Jack’s teeth around them. Aged scars on his face and down those thick arms. Dear lord, those thighs made to crush a man! And that fluffy, black goatee; someone send help, he was drowning in this man’s gorgeousness and he wasn’t sure if he wanted out.

 _“Uh, I asked how you were,”_ Jesse said in a terrible accent.

Was he playing stupid? He must have been because Jack had never heard his friend sound like that in all the years he had known him. Jesse spoke Spanish fluently; hell, Jack was certain that Spanish was his mother-tongue and _English_ was his second language. For him to be speaking so terribly meant he was scared and trying to make himself look like a tourist.

 _“A lost soul,”_ the man replied as his stance relaxed a little. _“What are you doing so far in the forest?”_

 _“Just exploring the area; heard there were some local legends up this way and wanted to see if they were real,”_ Jesse shrugged.

 _“It is just you?”_ the man asked with a heavy frown.

Jack shivered as Jesse shook his head. _“No. I have a friend with me. He’s using the washroom.”_

 _“Do not remain out past sunset,”_ the man chuckled as he lowered his arms. _“There are worse things in these woods than a few ill-mannered black bears. Enjoy your hike, child. And tell your companion I said hello.”_

He breezed down the path back the way they had come and Jack shivered as he emerged from his hiding place. He hurried over to Jesse, ducking behind the slightly taller man as he watched the stranger’s black shirt vanish around the bend in the trail.

“The fuck was that?” he shuddered.

Please let it be with fear and not lust. Please let it be with fear and not lust. He did not want to explain to Jesse why his pants were tenting.

“No idea, but thanks for not coming out until AFTER the bastard left,” Jesse glared at him.

“Hey, I didn’t know if he was going to attack or not,” Jack frowned. “I didn’t want to make him feel outnumbered and like he needed to defend himself.”

“Uh huh, sure thing, Boy Scout,” Jesse snorted before he hoisted his pack over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s make the next campsite before sunset.”

They made good time to the next campsite and had their tent set up well before sundown. Jesse cracked out the beers he had brought along and they sat around the campfire laughing and sipping cheap beer. After another round of stomach-churning amounts of s’mores, Jesse let out a long yawn and Jack waved him towards the tent, promising to put the fire out.

Jack stirred the ashes until they were cold and got to his feet. He started to turn towards the tent, but froze as he heard something land nearby. He turned slowly, staring into the darkness as something huge spread its wings. He stared into the face of an enormous barn owl as it stepped closer to him, the black eyes seeming to pierce right through his soul. Somehow, he wasn’t scared, just startled by its sudden appearance.

“ _Cariño_ ,” the owl whispered as it slowly tipped its head to the side. “I have missed you, Jack. Please, don’t hide from me any longer. I will keep you safe. I won’t fail you a second time.”

Jack felt his legs buckle under him and he fell forward into the owl’s awaiting wings. Only it wasn’t an owl, it was a man. He was pulled up against a wide chest and let out a low moan as a warm kiss was pressed against his temple.

“I will not lose you again,” the spirit whispered softly.

Jack closed his eyes and exhaled slowly as he let himself fall into Gabriel’s embrace. The world shifted around him and it felt like things were falling into place that he didn’t know had been missing. He was warm and safe here in Gabriel’s arms.

* * *

 

Gabriel cradled Jack’s body against his chest as he shifted forms. He had spent centuries scouring the woods for his husband and here he was finally back in his arms. It felt surreal, like if he blinked his sunshine was going to vanish forever. His wings churned the air as they rose above the canopy, but Jack didn’t stir.

His sunshine, his moonlight, his heart; Jack had managed to find his way back looking as beautiful and radiant as the day Gabriel found him dying of dehydration with a bullet in his thigh. He was so young and healthy and it made his heart weep as he flew. He would never let him go again. He would do everything in his power to keep his husband safe. He wouldn’t fail him again.

He banked and landed carefully within the walls of his nest, setting Jack down on the soft moss. He flicked his wings back and summoned the illusion around them to keep prying eyes from spotting them between the boulders. Jack slept with his head pillowed on his arm, shifting under the strange clothing that people wore now. He wasn’t sure how Jack wasn’t freezing to death with such thin clothing, but perhaps it was more durable than it looked.

“Jack,” he murmured as he sat down beside his husband and ran his fingers through that beautiful golden hair. “I’ve missed you so much, my sunlight.”

Jack let out a soft sigh and his eyelids cracked open just enough for Gabriel to see his blue eyes. A faint smile pulled at Jack’s lips before he let out a long sigh and dropped his head back to his arm. Gabriel smiled and shifted forms, draping his wing over Jack’s body. The soft feathers would keep any nightmares away while providing Jack with all the warmth and protection he could ever need.

“No one will take you from me again,” Gabriel promised as he leaned down to run his beak through Jack’s soft hair. “We will be together until the stars turn to dust. You will never need to fear anything ever again. I love you, Jack, and I will protect you. I will not fail you again, my darling.”

“Gabe?” Jack murmured softly from under his wing. “Mmm, keep talking? My head hurts.”

“Ssh,” Gabriel crooned as he shifted and pressed himself down over Jack’s shoulders. “I am here, my moonlight.”

“You say the sweetest things,” Jack laughed. “Mmm.”

Gabriel morphed his face and kissed along Jack’s jaw, smiling as the tanned flesh darkened with his husband’s flush. He nuzzled beside Jack’s ear, pressing his cheek against Jack’s as he listened to his husband’s breathing deepen and smooth out. He pressed a trail of kisses down Jack’s neck and rested his head in the warm crook of his throat. Jack shivered under him, shifting closer with a soft murmur of approval.

His sunlight had always loved being showered in attention. There was two hundred years he had to make up for. Eternity awaited them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation  
> No entiendo su pregunta - I do not understand your question.


	3. Chapter 3

“Where did you go, Jack?” Jesse rubbed his head, staring at the remains of the fire. “You said you were going to put out the fire,” he said slowly. “So where the fuck did you get to?”

Jesse had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He didn’t know Jack hadn’t come to bed until that morning when he woke up and found Jack’s sleeping bag cold. He didn’t know where Jack would wander off to; he might have grown up on a farm in the middle of Indiana where the land was flatter than flat, but he wasn’t stupid enough to go wander off in the woods alone in the middle of the night. There wasn’t the sharp tang of blood in the air, so he hadn’t gotten attacked. It was like he had vanished into thin air, but that wasn’t possible.

Jesse chewed on the inside of his cheek and glanced skyward. Or, maybe he did. An anxious feeling twisted in his gut as he started moving, grabbing his pack as he passed it. If what he thought possible had happened, he had to find the spirit responsible and confirm his suspicions. He didn’t want Jack to wander dazed and lost out in the forest that stretched on for miles.

He hadn’t told Jack all of the legend surrounding the forest, mostly because he hadn’t thought they were true. He’d been coming here since he was a kid and he’d never, EVER had an encounter like the one they had the other night. Just hearing that voice screaming for his sweetheart and begging them to stay with him made everything seem real.

The stories claimed that the spirit also took the form of a massive barn owl, hunting through the night for anyone that sought to harm the innocent. It was said to guide the lost back home while gently chiding them for being foolish enough to get lost in the first place. If it found Jack, it might have carried him off to a safe location thinking he was lost.

“Jack!” he shouted as he ran. “Come on, man, answer me!”

He didn’t see the stranger from the day before until he ran straight into him. Jesse stumbled back with a yelp, blinking at the massive man as he stared down at him from under the rim of his hat. He looked more dangerous than he had the day before, his eyes black as night with only a small pinprick of white near the middle.

 _“Leave,”_ the man growled.

Well, that confirmed what he had suspected yesterday when the man had appeared out of nowhere. This was the spirit and if he was telling him to leave, he had Jack. He must have mistaken Jack for his sweetheart or…or maybe Jack was the sweetheart. Mystical things were always a little weird to wrap the brain around, but hell, he’d seen strange things before.

He’d helped save the soul of a tyrannical king-turned-dragon on a trip to Japan a few years back. If that didn’t scream “this shouldn’t be happening, Ponyboy” he didn’t know what did. This spirit wasn’t the same as Hanzo haunting the old palace that he had ruled some four hundred years ago, but it was definitely just as dangerous.

 _“Sure, after you give me back my friend,”_ Jesse snapped in return. _“Ain’t nice to kidnap folks.”_

The man snorted and curled his lip. _“I did not kidnap him,”_ the stranger snapped. _“We have been apart for a very long time. I will not have you interrupting our reunion.”_

 _“Jack ain’t your sweetheart,”_ Jesse growled. _“That man died almost two hundred years ago. Yer a ghost.”_

 _“I am well aware of my current form, thank you,”_ the man rolled his eyes. _“It does not change the fact that he is mine. Leave.”_

 _“Not without,”_ Jesse started to snarl before he yelped and pulled his gun out of its holster.

The man screeched and lunged, his body changing swiftly from an intimidating man in his early forties to a massive black barn owl. Jesse dove out of the way of the talons, rolling across the ground and hissing as stones dug into his exposed arms. He rolled to his feet and fired at the massive barn owl. The bullets tore through the ghost, turning it into a wispy mess as it turned to screech at him.

 _“You will not take him from me!”_ the spirit roared. _“He is mine! I will not lose him again!”_

 _“He ain’t yours!”_ Jesse shouted as he fired the last four bullets in the chamber. _“Yer dead! Let the living be!”_

 _“NEVER!”_ the spirit screeched and rose into the sky. _“I lost him once to the scourge of the Americans; I will not lose him again!”_

Jesse swore and scrambled to reload his gun as the spirit turned into a massive cloud of black smoke. He tried to keep up, but the wind blew the smoke out of sight before he had a chance to see where it was going. He swore and kicked the dirt, gripping his hair in frustration. He was so close! If he had moved just a little bit faster, he could have gotten an idea of where to go.

He chewed on his cheek before bolting down the path in the direction he thought the spirit would go. He ran as fast as he could down the path, his pack slowing him down a little. He had to find Jack before the spirit bond his soul to this site too. He’d have to get off the trail and hope to hell he was heading in the right direction. The spirit could have made its home anywhere, but he had an idea where it could be.

Who wouldn’t want to make their large, oversized owl nest in between a couple of enormous boulders?

* * *

 

Jack swam in and out of consciousness, caught in the surging grip of an ocean of memories. He was tossed constantly between the present and the past, drowning in emotions he could barely comprehend before he was being thrown headfirst into the next memory.

He remembered soul-crushing heat. He remembered his throat growing so dry that his tongue became swollen. He remembered lying beside a rock and crying because he was in so much pain. He remembered wishing that he could just die to escape the pain.

He remembered cool water being poured gently down his throat. He remembered warm hands caressing his cheek as he meekly tried to thank his savior. He remembered warm brown eyes and a beautiful smile across a dark face. He remembered a soft bed and a house full of music and laughter.

He remembered the pain of his first coupling with the man that had saved him, of his boyish naiveté when it came to sex with another man. He remembered crying because he thought he had done something wrong when his partner stopped, only to laugh as his neck and face were covered in adoring kisses.

He remembered a wedding, of singing and dancing and laughing, of good food and the warming embrace of his husband. He remembered his deep voice, the funny way he purred Jack’s name, never quite able to pronounce the hard “J” properly. It was almost more “Gee-hack” than “Jack”, but he loved it. He remembered their first anniversary where his husband gave him a hand-crafted obsidian owl pendent, murmuring that he would protect him no matter what as their hands were clasped over the pendant.

He remembered the night his world ended, when men on horses came riding through town and set fire to everything. He remembered the rapid-fire bang of a rifle and the screaming of men, women, and children as they were gunned down. He remembered fleeing into the forest in the middle of the chaos, his husband dragging him along when his legs threatened to give out under him.

He remembered running through the forest pursued by a man with a rifle. He remembered getting shot and dying in his husband’s arms. He remembered his mate’s body being violently torn apart as he was cursed, turning to kill the man that pursued them in the form of a giant black owl.

He remembered the Indiana summers walking through the cornfields on his parents’ farm. He remembered playing with his baby sister in the front yard. He remembered the family of barn owls that had made their nest beside the house in the structure he had made in Grade 5 art class.

He remembered graduating at the top of his class in high school and stuttering through his speech. He remembered almost tripping over his robes as he hurried back to his seat, twisting at the last second to land gracefully with a huge grin on his face. He remembered the excitement of getting his acceptance letter and bouncing around the kitchen with his father as they laughed and hugged each other tightly.

He remembered moving into his dorm room and meeting Jesse McCree. He remembered sitting beside Angela Ziegler in class and copying her notes because hers were so much neater than his and actually made sense. He remembered almost running Lena Oxton over on his mad dash across campus because he’d forgotten an important piece of homework.

“Jack,” a gruff voice cooed in his ear, pulling him from the ocean of memories.

“Gabriel,” Jack murmured as his eyes fluttered open. “I was…was I dreaming?” he asked.

“Maybe,” Gabriel smiled. His goatee was as lush and soft as Jack remembered and his brown eyes were filled with nothing but fondness for him. “Was it a good dream?”

“Yes and no,” Jack smiled as he reached for his husband. “It was life. But, it was two lives trying to fit together. It’s so confusing, my love.”

“I am here,” Gabriel soothed as he pressed in close. “I will do everything I can to help you.”

“I know,” Jack smiled as he hugged Gabriel tightly. “Kiss me?”

“You have to ask?” Gabriel chuckled.

The kiss was warm and Jack’s toes curled in delight. He reached up to run his fingers through Gabriel’s curls, moaning softly as Gabriel shifted between his thighs. He wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s neck, smiling up at the man as he ran his hands under Jack’s shirt.

“You’re so young,” Gabriel teased. “You’re as beautiful as the day I found you.”

“And you are as handsome as ever,” Jack rubbed his nose against Gabriel’s. “Will you leave with me?”

“Leave?” Gabriel frowned in confusion.

“Well, I have to go home,” Jack smiled. “I have people waiting for me.”

“This is home,” Gabriel said slowly.

“This?” Jack asked as he glanced around at the illusion holding them hostage. “This isn’t home. It’s a prison.”

Gabriel scoffed and lifted his nose arrogantly. “I can leave any time I want,” he snapped.

“Then why haven’t you?” Jack asked gently. “Gabe, you could have come hunting for me instead of haunting these woods.”

“You don’t understand anything, Jack,” Gabriel snapped as he got to his feet. “This is home; why would I want to leave?”

“You’re a prisoner,” Jack said as he sat up. “Gabriel, please, don’t be mad. I don’t want you to be hurt.”

He lifted his hands to his husband and he watched the anger drain out of the strong shoulders. Gabriel reached out and cupped Jack’s face, running this thumb slowly over his cheek.

“I love you,” he cooed as he knelt down in front of Jack. “I love you with all of my being.”

“I love you too,” Jack smiled.

“JACK!” Jesse’s voice tore through the walls of the illusionary room.

Jack snapped his head up in surprise as Gabriel spun around with a screech. Jesse swore and dropped the pack he had been carrying, pulling his gun out and squaring off against Gabriel. Gabriel’s body morphed into a massive black barn owl and he took to the sky.

“Jesse, you have to leave!” Jack shouted. “He’s trapped!”

“I get that, Jack, but I ain’t letting him trap you too,” Jesse shouted back. “We have to find his anchor and destroy it!”

He dodged out of the way of Gabriel’s attack, but the massive talons tore his shirt as they passed. Jesse scrambled to his feet, the remains of his shirt hanging off of his arms and back. He snarled at Gabriel, firing a bullet before he darted out of the way of another attack.

A black barn owl. A promise of protection. An obsidian pendent that had found its way back to Jack after being lost for two hundred years. Gabriel finding him almost instantly after he put the pendant on.

Without thinking, Jack pulled the pendent off from around his neck and got to his feet. He weighed the gift in his hand, his heart sinking at the thought of destroying it. He had loved this pendant and the warmth it gave him whenever Gabriel was away. He didn’t want Gabriel to suffer any longer; his husband deserved rest and he would not get it by being forced to defend whatever was touching the carving.

“Jesse, PULL!” he shouted.

He whipped the carving as hard as he could into the air. Jesse McCree, sharpshooter extraordinaire, twisted mid-dodge and fired at the carving. It exploded into a hail of black glass and the illusion around them vanished. Gabriel rose with a shriek of agony, his wings beating the air uselessly as he twisted and contorted back into his human form.

Jack reached for Gabriel, shouting an apology. He didn’t mean to hurt him; he just wanted him to be free. Gabriel turned to look at him and a smile played across his handsome features as feathers gave way to skin. He raised a hand as his body began to blow away in the wind.

“Look for me, my love. I will not be long,” Gabriel promised before he vanished.

Jack sank to his knees and covered his face in his hands. He sobbed and the memories of his old life leaked out between his fingers. Everything faded away until he was left staring into his lap wondering why he was crying and why he was kneeling in the middle of a circle of boulders.

“Jack, you okay?” Jesse asked as he knelt down beside him.

“What…what happened?” Jack asked as he lifted his eyes to his friend. “I don’t…I don’t remember.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Jesse smiled sadly. “You believe in reincarnation?”

“A bit,” Jack admitted with a weak shrug. “I believe it’s possible, like anything else in this world.”

“There’s two types of reincarnation, at least from what’s I’ve seen in this life,” Jesse said. “There’s the one where you start life out again as a baby and grow into a new person. Then there’s one where you come back into the world already full-grown and the world stitches itself together around you. It’s not the easiest thing to follow, but that’s the joys of living, I suppose. Just know that someone you love is going to find his way back to you, the same way you found your way back to him to save him from a self-inflicted curse,” Jesse soothed as he offered a hand.

Jack nodded numbly as he followed Jesse out of the woods. It took them a day and a half to leave the forest after they made it back to the campsite and packed up properly. They piled into Jesse’s truck when they made it out, relieved to see a bit of civilization after the nightmare of a ghost hunt.

“Never drag me into another ghost hunt,” Jesse ordered as he glared out the windshield. “Fucking attacked by a God-damn fucking owl. I could have been turned into a pellet because of you, Jack!”

Jack looked at Jesse and smiled for the first time in days. “Thank you.”

Jesse returned the smile and reached over to ruffle Jack’s hair. “No problem, pardner; anything for you,” he teased. “But seriously, Hanzo would have been pissed if you brought back a pellet and tried to pass it off as me. I mean, you could have slapped a little cowboy hat on the thing to make it look cute, but he would have flambéed you for it.”

Jack laughed and leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes to rest. He woke up in a soft bed with a cool mug of tea on the nightstand. He sat up to drink it, enjoying the minty flavour as it travelled down his parched throat. He got up to use the washroom, nodding to Jesse as the other man left the washroom scratching his bare, hairy chest and shot him a smile around his yawn. Jack did his business and then returned to bed to sleep for another few hours.

He woke up crying into his pillow and Jesse rubbing soothing circles into his back.

“Grieving’s always the hardest part of recovery,” Jesse murmured. “You’ll be okay, pardner. I promise.”

Jack could barely manage a smile, but he trusted Jesse’s word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And y'all thought Jesse was just a pretty face~


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m still reeling that you decided to get a Master’s degree in Law,” Jack teased as he and Jesse walked across campus. “Jesse ‘I fucking hate school with a passion’ McCree is getting his Masters in Law.”

“Ah, shut yer mouth,” Jesse laughed as he lit up a cigarette. “Thought it was only fitting so I know what charges I can slap across my father’s fucking face the next time he shows up at my Mama’s house.”

“That’s not what you do with a Law degree,” Jack teased.

“Yah well…whoa! Watch!” Jesse yelped as he danced out of the way of another student.

Jack did not get so lucky. He walked straight into the other student and they both stumbled back. He saw a stack of papers fall to the ground and felt a strong stab of horror in his gut. He started waving his hands madly around his head before he stooped down to grab the papers before they were ripped away by the wind.

“I am so sorry!” he shouted as he scrambled to grab the papers.

“It’s okay, _guero_ ,” a gruff voice chuckled. “It’s just scrap paper.”

Jack froze and glanced down at the paper he was holding. Most of it was covered in thick black lines running from top to bottom, like the toner in someone’s printer had a heart-attack in the middle of printing. He felt a blush crawl up his face and shyly handed the paper back to the man.

“Oh,” he managed to squeak.

“But,” the man grinned around the starting of an amazing black goatee, “if you really feel bad, _bello_ , you could buy me coffee.”

Jack stared at the man as a ripple of familiarity rolled through his chest. The man’s grin softened as he shifted the papers in his arms to run a hand through his black curls. There was a ripple of muscle under his black shirt and something in Jack’s chest ached to tuck himself into those wide shoulders and just forget the world existed.

“Coffee sounds like a great idea,” he murmured. “Are you free right now or…?”

“I could use a hand shredding this shit first,” the man smiled and held out his hand. “Gabriel Reyes.”

“Jack Morrison,” Jack said as he shook the hand. “I’d be happy to help. Oh!” He looked at Jesse and blushed. “I, uh…?”

“Don’t sweat it,” Jesse laughed as he tapped the ashes off of his cigarette. “I’m going to meet up with Hanzo. You two enjoy your shredding and coffee.”

He waved and walked off with a whistle. How he managed to get a tune out around his cigarette, Jack had no idea. He shook his head in amusement before smiling at Gabriel.

“So, where’s the closest shredder?” he asked.

“Friend’s dorm room,” Gabriel chuckled as they started walking. “Is it strange to say that I feel like we’ve met before?”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Jack laughed as he tipped his head back to look at the blue sky overhead. “Is your favourite animal a barn owl?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said softly. “Is yours a puma?”

“It is,” Jack looked at Gabriel and smiled. “That’s so weird that we know that.”

“It is,” Gabriel agreed. “And yet…I’m totally okay with it.”

“Me too,” Jack shifted closer to Gabriel and shyly fit his arm around Gabriel’s bicep. “It’s so weird.”

Gabriel didn’t say anything. He just leaned over and pressed a warm kiss to Jack’s head.

“ _Te amo, cariño_ ,” Gabriel murmured against his temple.

“ _Te amo_ ,” Jack whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end. Really short chapter, I know, but sometimes you just need a couple of pages to get the feels going.
> 
> Thank you everyone for tagging along and reading this. Jesse's story on how he met Hanzo; I seem to have a theme going here; should be up tomorrow. Because I can't even mention those two in a story without Jesse patting at my face going "Hey, hey, me too!" Silly cowboy and his silly archer.


End file.
